Twenty Die
by Karianasan
Summary: This is a story because I wanted to write it. So hopefully you guys will like it too. Rated a bit higher then my normal stories, just in case. BEWARE! This contains GEEKNESS! Enter at your own risk! XD
1. Secret Meeting

The stairs that led to the basement, looked daunting in the darkness. Even though the moon was out, there was no window nearby enough to let the bright light gain purchase on the darkened stairs. Like a open maw of some large creature, just calling for her to step in so it could close its mouth around her. A lone figure stood at the top, debating on how to reach the bottom; unscathed. She dared not to use the light that hung about the middle of the stairs, for it would give her position away. (Not that she didn't think about it, a few times...) She had to get to the bottom without anyone knowing. It would have to be reached, the hard way. Slowly, (with no other way to go about it) the woman started on her way down the stairs. She was only a few steps down when she thought of something. Looking back, she tried to see how many steps she had already come down. Remembering to count the top stair, she kept track of the steps in her mind. There was one step in particular she had to be aware of. Step number fourteen was the one to look out for, as it loved to squeal under pressure. And she wasn't going to get so close to the bottom, only to have her location given away so early. No, she would finally find out tonight... what secret meeting she was missing. In the basement of her own house.

Skipping that one step, she only had two more before the cool stone floor, met her questing feet. She had gone bare foot, knowing that her socks might make some noise she didn't want to hear. But now she was regretting it, as she shivered with the chilly floor coming in contact with her feet. She rubbed the sides of her arms to gather warmth, but she could not do too much more then that. But she didn't have time to worry about her feet, she had some spying to do. Giving the basement door a look, she noticed that the door had been shut._ Blast!_ She grumbled, eyeing the door handle. She thought about trying the handle, but worried that she would be noticed. Looking down, she noticed that some of the light was creeping through the base of the door. Against her better judgment, (and with a sigh) she got on her hands and knees and tried to peer under the door to see who was beyond. But no matter how she pressed her face against the cement, she was unable to see more then a bit of the floor beyond the crack. All she got was a cold face, to go with her cold feet and now hands as well. Giving her hand a shake, she chided herself for not planning this better. Or had something on her that would help. Heck, if Velma was in this position, she would have some gizmo that could look under the crack for her. But Daphne didn't have such a device... yet. But that was for another day, now she had to find out what was going on.

Getting to her feet, she dusted off her pajamas before considering the door handle again. She knew it wouldn't squeak at least, since Velma made sure to that. The last thing the brainac wanted when she was working in her lab on some big project, was a rude, sudden squeak from the door if anyone else came downstairs. So maybe... Just maybe, if she did it slow enough, she would be able to open it. Pressing her ear lightly to the door, she was able to make out some talking. But no matter how she strained, she had no way of knowing what was being said. She only caught a few words, like pencil, sheet and something -erity. _Which made no sense to her!_ She needed the door open, in order to hear what was going on. Considering the knob one more time, she nodded and resigned herself to being extra careful.

Slowly, Daphne extended her hand upon the door handle. Light at first, but then she gripped it harder. The sounds she made were hard to hear on her end, so she bet with them all talking that no one would notice. Well, as long as Scooby was talking, he might not notice the sounds of her holding the door knob. _Curse that dog hearing!_ Holding her breath, she strained her ears against the door to see if anyone noticed. But the sounds seemed to continue at a constant enough pace that she figured that she hadn't been found out yet. Breathing in to steady herself, she slowly started to apply pressure to the handle. Moving slower then a snail, she began to slowly turn the knob. Centimeter by centimeter inched one by one, in an agonizing manner. But she dared not rush it and have it all go to waste. They eventually became an inch, and then two. When her hand met resistance, she knew that she had it fully turned. Spreading her legs shoulder width, she made sure to get her balance before she tried to move the door. Bracing against the floor, she used the wall nearby the door to prop her head by the crack she planned to make. Pushing the door inwards, she made sure to make the crack only as wide as she needed to look inside. To the people inside, it should look like the door was barely open and dismiss it. Or so she hoped.

But she had reached her goal, now all she had to do... was watch and listen.

* * *

><p>The basement was really big, to support the house that sat above it. When they had first moved into the house, it had been mostly open, unused space. But Velma soon took it over, making it her 'laboratory'. Though it was mainly in name only, except one room that split off from the main area. (Where she had a bunch of scientific gadgets and things that were beyond Daphne's understanding. But they looked neat!) But the main room had various tables and seats that were scattered about the room normally... but for some reason, they were all gathered in the middle for this 'meeting'. Daphne wasn't sure what it meant, and she was confused at how they sat around the table. On one side sat the guys; Fred, Shaggy and Scooby. Each in their own chairs that sat on one end of the large table. Fred sat on the far side of where she was looking, but was closer to the back end of the table. On the end sat an empty chair that was between him and Scooby. Scooby was sitting mostly in the middle of the end of the table, but who could be joining them? Did they have a seat for her? Or was there another person that was coming to their meeting. And how were they going to get down there?<p>

Looking back up to where she had come down, she considered all the people who had keys to the house. No one that came to mind, she thought would be coming this late at night. So what was the chair for? Shifting her glance back to the table, she went back to the task at hand. Looking opposite of Fred, Shaggy sat on the other side at the end of the table. Moving up the table, she noticed that some paper sat scattered across the table face. But as far as she was from the table, she couldn't see what was on the pages. Moving further up, she finally spotted Velma. Sitting in a rather large chair, she sat in the middle of the opposite end of where the guys were. She sat there, with an oddly confident look on her face. Not her normal look of confidence, but one that Daphne really never saw the other woman having before. Rubbing her hands together, Velma looked like a downright plotting villain, with an odd scheme brewing about her mind. Beyond her glasses, Velma's eyes danced with a mischievousness glint that could send a shiver down your spine to see. But looking back at the guys, they didn't seem to even notice the look on Velma's face, even though she was looking straight at them.

"Soon... We should be able to start once the last member of your party arrives." Velma commented, her voice low and deep. "Are you all ready, other then that? Have you gathered your things and are ready to start?"

"Yep! Like' all ready! I had some questions from the last time, but I read that book you told me to read, and it had the answers to my questions. So yeah, I'm all set." Piped up Shaggy, bouncing a bit in his seat.

"Rah Rah! R'all ret! E-hehehe..." Added Scooby, giggling as he looked down at a paper in front of him. He gave it a pat, before looking off to one side of the basement. Though he was looking away from her door, and to her knowledge, there was nothing really important over on that side. Scooby was sure being weird... er, then normal. With his happy, yet odd motions against that paper on the table, one of his paw falls hit a nearby pencil, sending it flying off to the side. Turning back as he felt the pencil, Scooby blushed as he realized what he had done.

"I'll get it Scoob." Shaggy suggested, pushing his chair out from behind him to give chase after the airborne writing implement. Daphne sucked in her breath as she noticed him pass closer to the door, before disappearing beyond where her crack could see. She hoped that getting the pencil would occupy him, and keep his attention away from the door.

"Hey, like did you see where it went?" Shaggy questioned, his voice floating off to the side where she couldn't locate him very well. But he seemed far enough, she hoped.

"Over there!" Fred shouted, offering some obscure hand gestures in an attempt to steer the other man in the proper direction. She didn't know how it would help, but as long as he didn't come over there.

"Here it... Ack!" It seemed that Shaggy _almost_ had it, but he managed to knock it away from himself. Clattering, Daphne's eyes grew wide as she saw the pencil roll in front of the door. The stupid beatnik had kicked it right too where she was hiding! Locking herself up, she gripped the door for all that she was worth and tried to stay as still as possible. Maybe he wouldn't see her. Seconds ticked by as she waited for the scruffy man to enter her sight. His head was down, as he searched for the missing pencil. Scanning the floor, he soon came across the pencil. Getting down on the floor, it didn't take him long to grip the pencil. But there was a clack that sounded loudly behind him, that made everyone turn to look.

"He's here!" Fred clapped, announcing their final member to the secret meeting. **_But the worst thing happened!_**

In an effort to pull himself to his feet quicker, Shaggy reached up and gripped the door handle. Heaving himself upwards; Daphne had been locked in a position to stay still, not one to take the weight of her lanky friend. With a squeak, Daphne was pulled forward as Shaggy fell off to the side. He had been expecting the door to be closed like he had left it, not open. Catching his footing, he turned to watch Daphne fall to the floor at his feet with a thud.

"Daphne! What the..."  
>"Hey, it's Daphne!"<br>"Raphne!"  
>"Like... What are you doing here?" The whole gang was surprised to see the sprawled red head at Shaggy's feet. They all had assumed that she was asleep, like all the other times she slept through their group gathering.<p>

Face pressing into the floor, she left it there for a few seconds in embarrassment before looking up. Giving a weak wave, she knew that her cover was blown. Pushing herself to her knees, she noticed that Shaggy was offering his hand to her. Smiling, feeling more embarrassed, she took it and let him help her to her feet. He dusted her off, (a second time, but he didn't know that) and then gestured off to the table they had been all sitting at.

"Wanna join us?" Shaggy offered, though Velma didn't seem very happy with the thought. Daphne opened her mouth to say something, when she was interrupted by someone.

"Wait, does that mean we'll have another player? Sweet!" Came a mysterious voice from the shadows. Squinting towards the darkness, Daphne tried to make out the figure that was walking towards them.


	2. Event! New Companion Revealed!

Slowly coming out of the shadows, the tall form of a man emerged. Daphne couldn't find words, as she noticed who is was. Not so much on the fact of who is was, but what she just figured out about his entrance. Leaving Shaggy's side, she moved around the table to come up next to the man. Straining her neck to look up at him, she was in shock. Eyes wide, her mouth moved but no sound came out. Her one hand had come up to point, but all it did was wobble as she held it up in front of her and at him.

"How…" She managed to get out, making the man smile down at her.

"No, but how…" Her hand managed to work a bit better, waving off towards behind him. The man rumbled a laugh, planting a hand upon her head to muss it.

"I missed you too. Now who's up for a game?" Leaving her hair a mess, the man moved towards his chosen seat. Taking off his leather jacket, he made sure to hang it on the back of the spare chair. Leaning down, he pulled out some papers from his coat pocket and placed them upon the spot on the table, in front of his chair. He had to catch them a few times, as they were rolled and tried to run away towards where Fred and Scooby sat.

"Red Herring!"

Daphne finally got her voice back, yelling in an annoyed tone to the newcomer. Not only for the hair muss, but for not answering her question. It didn't matter that she hadn't been clear with the question, in the first place, she still wanted it answered. Moving into the shadows he came from, she thrust her finger up at something.

"How did you fit through that?"

Daphne had been pointing to a rather small window, that sat at ground level outside. Well, mostly ground level, as it dipped down a bit to make sure the basement saw the light of day… Sometimes.

While it would have been no problem for someone like Shaggy or Scooby's size to fit through, if need be… Red was another story! The boy they knew, had grown into a fine man of large burly size. And his height of 6'8", didn't help Daphne's mental image for how he could fit through such a narrow space. But Red just smiled. Pulling up his arms, he grinned and shrugged.

"I guess I made my saving throw." He offered, though he didn't make any sense to her. But oddly enough, the rest of the gang snickered at it, even Scooby.

"That's it! I've had enough!" Stalking over, she bulled her way over to the table. In a huff, she grabbed all the papers that she could reach, bringing them closer so that she could look at them. Strange numbers and lines looked back at her, confusing her more. She really didn't know what the heck this meant, let alone why all the secrecy. Looking beyond the papers in her fingers, she noticed pencils, pieces of blank paper, and various little pieces of things that looked like they had been cannibalized from board games. _What was all this mess?_

"What the heck are you people doing?" She finally caved, coming out and just said what she was thinking. And she wouldn't let a person leave the room until she was told the truth. Moving across the room, she positioned herself in front of the door to the basement. Making sure no one got out unless they tried to crawl out where Red had come in.

A silence fell upon the room, as the others looked among each other. Almost as if asking who wanted to go first, but not wanting to be that person. Daphne was fuming, and no one wanted to face her wrath. Finally, a sigh came from other side of the table, as Velma adjusted her glasses before pushing her chair out and rising to her feet. Plucking a book from her pile, Daphne noticed that she was walking towards her. Finally when she got right in front of her, the shorter woman stopped and held up the book for her to look at.

"We're all playing a game. It's called Maidens and Monsters. Basically you build a character and go on adventures for treasure and fame." Velma sighed, hoping that this would sooth the taller woman. She was worse then a level 5 drake when she was pissed!

"So... All this is a game?" Caught off guard, this was not what she was expecting. Looking over at the table, she figured all those lines and numbers helped make the characters Velma spoke of. And now that she was thinking about it, she had noticed some doodles scribbled in on Scooby's papers, but she wasn't sure what to make of the brown blob that sat on the page. Awaiting the worst, Velma braced for anything.

"Yep, and it's alot of fun. You take on monsters, and rescue the captured Maiden!" Red added in, trying to be helpful. But at the word '_maiden_', Velma cringed. She hoped this wasn't going the direction she thought it might. Daphne's eyes narrowed at that word as well. Shooting Red _that_ look, she could only think of one thing...

"I wouldn't be the maiden, would I?" Daphne said, voice wavering dangerously. Too many times, Daphne ended up being in the wrong place and the wrong time. It wasn't her fault! But she was a bit known for her inability to avoid danger on a mystery. So she wasn't sure if they were using her as the Maiden.

"No! not at all... Nope, the maiden is a NPC, the players..." He gestured to the papers in her hand, and then at the guys beside him. "The players are the ones who save her! We go on quests and take out the villains or monsters that have captured her and holding her for ransom and such..." Pausing, he gave a rather loud swallow before speaking. "So what do you think?" He added the last part, a bit tentatively. Hoping that she would not get mad.

There was a long pause, as Daphne took in the information. A part of her was happy that the whole, 'secret meeting' was no more then her friends just being weird and playing a game. Though she wasn't sure what all the secrecy was about, anyway. But the title came back to her mind. Maidens and Monsters... Mostly the 'maiden' part. But she would be a 'player'...

Giving the character sheets in her hand one last look, she finally looked up at them all. The room seemed to flinch, awaiting what was going to come next...

"I have no clue what a 'NPC' is, but as long as I'm not the Maiden, I'm game!"

Thinking it over in her mind, she realized that this sounded kinda like fun. It kinda was like being on a mystery, but with paper and imaginary monsters. And this way, she could get back at all those monsters and bad guys that had captured her in the past, and save some other damsel in distress! And it wasn't **her!**

"So, how do you play?"

Turning to look at the guys, they all were in shock. Daphne was the last person they thought would be interested in playing a role playing game with them. Fashion really didn't play into dice rolls, unless you counted it as a plus to charisma or something. After finding other confused looks looking back at them, all eyes turned to Velma. The woman blinked a few times before she realized they were looking to her to take over. Straightening herself up, she turned to Daphne with a confident posture.

"Alright, if you want to play, you have to learn a few things."

"Ok, what do I have to know?" Confused at what had just happened, Daphne waited till Velma explained herself. Maybe this might shed some light on why Velma sat on one side, and the guys sat on the other.

"In order to play Maiden and Monsters, there are a few things you need. Players, and a GM or Game Master. Players are people like you; who want to save the Maiden, and go on the adventure. I'm the GM. I am the person who is behind everything that happens to the players."

Pausing, Velma let the first bit of information set in, before continuing.

"I have built a world for you guys to run around in, and I am basically God to your characters. What I say, goes. But that isn't to say that I'm going to take advantage of that. Just, if I say that a monster pops out and attacks you, it is there for your character."

Velma made a face, softening her hardened look. She knew alot of GM's for various games, not just Maidens and Monsters, could abuse their powers and make it miserable for their players. That wasn't what she did, but with Daphne new to the idea, she needed to let her know that she made the rules... or at least enforced them from the manuals.

"Alright, so basically this sounds like you are like a narrator for a story, and the 'players' are the cast in said story, right? But I guess we some how can interact with your story, but using those papers you guys have?" Daphne tried to understand, putting it in terms she would be able to comprehend.

"That sounds about right, on a rough level. Yeah. Alright, since we were about to start a new campaign anyway, why don't we use this time to organize the party and get everything ready before we start. I might have Daphne run through some small stuff, before I bring on the story I was going to have to guys go on. Let me go get a character sheet..." Wandering off to her stack of papers and books on her side of the table, Velma set about searching for the necessary paperwork.

"Come on Daph, take a seat here." Shaggy came up from one side, directing her towards their end of the table. Red had already moved more on Fred's side, and Scooby pushed towards Shaggy, making room for another chair to be added for her. She was at the very end, facing where Velma would sit. But it gave her alot of surface area in front of her.

While Velma dug through her things, Daphne used this time to turn to the rest of the guys and ask some questions.

"So... why is she all the way down there?" Asked the female red head, pointing to Velma's GM chair on the other side.

"Velma is the Game Master. So she needs enough room for all her notes, plans, monsters and maps. You're not supposed to know what is coming, so the distance gives us enough room to not give in to temptation and look at what might be coming our way." Fred added, knowing that more then once, he had wanted to look over the screen she had to shield her notes from view. So he would know what to expect. But that was the fun part of the game as well. The unknown.

"Alright." Daphne could understand that, though it seemed a bit silly to her. "Well, what kind of story are we working with here? Besides saving a Maiden that isn't me..." Daphne added, for good measure.

"Well, last time we had to face some dragons that had gotten a hold of a princess from a rich kingdom in order to start a war. I don't know what she has in mind for this game, but that is the fun of playing. Each campaign is something new, and exciting!" Red rubbed his hands together, having been looking forward to playing with them for a while now. Though their last game session had been put on hold, as a mystery had come up and they couldn't play until it was solved.

"Alright, so basically this is a fantasy setting? Dragons and princesses and all that?" Daphne asked.

"Yep." Several of the guys nodded, agreeing with the statement.

"And so we pick a character and then Velma puts them in a place to face monsters and save the day, right? Ok, then how do I make a character?" Daphne wondered, looking at the pages she had returned to them all. Figuring that mess of lines and such were what she was going to have to be shown how to make.

"You'll need this..." Velma added, bringing a pristine new character sheet in front of Daphne. It looked far cleaner then the pages she had seen the guys have, as little numbers and scratch marks had been made all over the place. Looking it over, she found a pencil hovering into view. Scooby was holding out a pencil for her to take, knowing that she was going to need one. Fred also added a few pieces of scratch paper beside her sheet, for things that she didn't know that she was going to need. Taking the pencil, she looked down at the character sheet in puzzlement.

"Alright... now what?"


	3. Without class

"Rapne rould re ra ruid!"

Barking, Scooby had raised himself upon his front paws, to get face to face with Shaggy. For the first time, in a long time, Daphne watched the two pals fight. It wasn't something important, but they normally agreed with what the other said... And very rarely they ever fought. Mashing forehead to forehead, the two glared at each other as their equal stubbornness made they literally, butt heads. Pushing back and forth, they didn't want to bend to the others ideas.

"Nah, like' she shouldn't be a Druid, she should be a Sorceress Scoob."

Patting his character sheet with the back of his hand, he tried to talk some sense into his furry companion. As neat as Druids were in this game, Shaggy thought that Daphne would do better with a Sorceress build. She was intelligent, and could do rather well with the planning aspect that one needed for a spell caster. It took skill, and a sense of organization to pull the class off right, and Shaggy felt that with all the multitasking she did on a regular basis, she would make an excellent sorceress. With magic staff in one hand, he could picture her blasting away her enemies and helping her companions.

"R'lah r'lah Rorceress." Scooby mimicked Shaggy's talking with a paw, moving it like a talking mouth. Obviously not moved on his position. He thought the Druid class, would be far better. Druids were one with nature, and good with animals. As Daphne naturally was. She loved him, and paid him more than enough attention for him to know personally, that she fit that category. And she would have spells as well, but they were be far more suiting Daphne then a silly Sorceress class.

As the two argued, Daphne watched in amazement. She really didn't really understand what was going on, but she figured it had something to do with the idea of what 'character' she was going to be playing in this game. And it was long time since she had seen the duo get so heated up over something. It was then that she noticed Fred off to the side. He shook his head, and then got to his feet. Walking over to the arguing buddies, Fred moved into a position between the two. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he drew them away from each other.

"Now now guys. Let's not fight."

Daphne sighed; thankful someone was talking some sense around here. But it didn't last long...

"Sorceress and Druid are nice ideas. But come on, you know that Daphne is best suited for a Knight class. It's as simple as that." Which earned a face plant into the palm of her hand, for Daphne. She couldn't believe this! _Was no one talking sense around here?_

"No Fred, she doesn't seem like the sword and board, kinda chick. Sorceress!" But Fred shook his head in disagreement.

"Yeah Shag, she's perfect for a Knight. And she doesn't have to just have a sword and shield. She could just as easily have a spear, or mace and shield."

Adding to the argument, Fred defended his own thoughts against the bickering duo. He could picture her in armor, standing in a heroic pose with the wind blowing her red hair in a trail behind her. It seemed perfect to him, but the guys didn't see it that way. Turning on him, Scooby shot Fred a look.

"Ruid!"

After a bit of glaring at Fred, the two decided that they would put it all on the line and finally decide who was right. So they ended up settling with a staring contest, as if that would decide who had precedence. Shaking her head, Daphne really didn't know what to think of it all. She knew a general idea of what they were saying, from like fantasy books and such, but other than that she had no clue how this game worked. _It seemed like she needed to pick a class, whatever that was?_ Confused, she finally tried to find the source of it all, Velma.

Looking over at Velma, it caught Daphne off guard to see her friend looking that devious. Draped in the shadows from her tall chair, she was peering with just her eyes over a set of steepled fingers. It was clear that the wheels were turning in her mind, but what she could be thinking, was far beyond Daphne's comprehension. But there was definitely something going on. And the evil looking woman only paused long enough to peer at a nearby page, and scribble down a note here and there before her fingers were brought back together and she set her stare back at Daphne. It was getting kind of, unnerving... But Daphne didn't have much time to ponder what her friend could be planning, because what was said next distracted her.

"Amazon!"

Turning sharply, Daphne sent a unhappy glare at the source of the comment. Standing with both hands to the sky, Red had finally added his idea into the mix. Though his comment had silenced the others, all caught off guard by the idea of it. Several mouths hung open for a few seconds, before Fred was the first to recover. Placing a hand over his mouth, he honestly considered the idea.

"Hmmm... ack!"

Trying to shut down any ideas he might have, Fred had a look that Daphne didn't like. Silencing him with a quick elbow, he looked over with a hurt expression that he was obviously faking. So she continued to glare at him, and Red. Red tried to look innocent, but the beaming smile across his face, wasn't convincing anyone.

"What? I can totally see you in some wicked +2 Bikini mail!"

"Do I even want to know what..." She paused, unable to even say the words aloud. _A Bikini Chain Mail? How would she even wear such a thing? Let alone keep it clean._ In her mind, it was hard to picture. "... Bikini-whatever-its-called, even is?"

"Bikini Mail." Red said with an affirmative nod. "The most **important** piece of equipment, for the get up and go Amazon! Critical to any sword wielding lass out on an adventure. Only the best for Daphne!"

Flipping through one of the nearby handbooks, Red tried to find the perfect picture to show her. After a bit of searching, (he knew it had to be around the equipment section in the handbook.) Red finally found what he was looking for. Turning the book around so she could see, he held out the page that had a female Amazon in the garb in question. There was little there, for the imagination...

"..." Finding herself looking at the scantily clad woman on the page, she had trouble finding the proper words about the skimpy, iron undies presented to her.

"... That looks like it chafes! No, no, and a hundred times no!"

Red was about to argue his opinion, when there was a sound at the other side of the table. Pushing her grand throne backwards, Velma made her way down the length of the table with a set of papers in her hand. Once reaching the group, Velma held out the rough character sheet for Daphne to look at. Curious at the offer, all of the guys dropped what they were doing and crowded around Daphne. They all stretched and leaned against one another, to be able to see the paper as Daphne read the sheet over.

"With careful consideration of all classes and material presented in the various rulebooks and text, I think I have formulated the best possible character for Daphne to play. A unique balance of magic and combat, I believe that the only class to suit our newest player is..." Holding up one finger, Velma presented her case like many mysteries they had done over the years. Going through the data, and thinking about what Daphne might enjoy playing, she figured she had put the clues together well enough to come to a logical conclusion. But before she finished her assessment, she was interrupted.

"A paladin? What is that?" Unsure of what the class was, Daphne questioned the decision aloud. And the guys were quick informing her of what it entailed.

"Basically it a..."  
>"You like' are a..."<br>"R'asically ruh rah..."

All trying to speak at once, Daphne was overwhelmed with their comments. She was unable to listen to one guy before another spoke and distracted her from what they had been saying. Darting from one to another, she chooses then to look to the game master for help. After all, she had been the one to suggest the class. That and the guys weren't helping.

"Gang... calm down." Velma tried at first, but the boys continued to try to explain the class to Daphne. Placing a hand upon her face in annoyance. But she knew how to deal with this. Without raising her voice, she spoke to them in a language they would understand.

"The next person to speak will suffer a -1 penalty to their rolls for the first hour of game play!"

Instantly the guys eyes grew wide and they made sure to stifle any comments. With mouths shut, they all took their seats and waited till Velma said that it was ok for them to speak. Daphne was amazed! _What kind of magic did Velma just cast, in order to make them clam up so quickly? And where could she get some?_

"Better... Sorry Daph." Velma said, feeling bad. She didn't want her newest player being scared off by the all too eager veteran players. They guys hadn't played for such a long time, and it was showing. But they had to be considerate to Daphne.

"A Paladin, or pally for short. Is basically a holy knight."

Off to the side, Fred made a hand gesture of victory. Which was quickly stifled by a look from Velma. Earning him a bashful look and tucking both hands on his lap. Which made Daphne snicker at the event.

"Basically it's a mixture of sword swinging and magic casting. You will be good at fighting, and also skilled in healing and smiting evil undead. And we already know that you are good at taking out Zombies, so this will just build on that." Velma joked, though she still had a good dose of denial about actually meeting real zombies.

Borrowing the book from Red, Velma flipped through the manual and found the page on Paladins. Turning the book towards Daphne, she showed her what the book said about said character class. Reading the passage over, Daphne got the general gist of what the character would be, and it didn't sound so bad. Certainly wasn't a character that would ever be mistaken for the damsel, so that was a plus in her mind.

"What is this Deity? Lavender?" Looking over the page, she had seen that Paladins follow a code from their gods, and they would help give direction on how her character was played. And looking at the rough sheet Velma had drawn up, she had filled in the deity already.

"Well, the books have many Gods and Goddesses to choose from. The goddess Lavender is a Gentle but strong deity that watches after her followers. She also has a good sense of appearance, and requires all of her followers to be the same. I figured that you would appreciate a fashion conscious goddess."

Velma mused, hoping that Daphne would enjoy the choice. Though she would never admit aloud that the creator these particular gods had been fans of theirs. And had contacted Velma for permission to make them into these deities. And Lavender was loosely based off Daphne, so it fit perfectly.

Blinking, Daphne wasn't sure what to really make of the goddess. It sounded so odd to have a goddess like that in this kind of game. But she couldn't exactly claim to be an expert on this kind of thing, so she guessed it was ok. Shrugging, she looked at the page in front of her. Some of the little boxes had been filled in, but some was missing.

"So, how do I finish this character? I figure I need all these spaces filled in before we can play, right?" Daphne had been playing with the pencil Scooby had given her, but she really didn't know what to actually do with it, or what half of these things meant. Sure she could understand what the name and player meant. But the rest of the page she didn't know.

"Well, not all the spaces, but some get filled in as we go."

Velma moved to where she could easily help Daphne fill out the paper with her. The guys made sure to move out of the way, and help in any way they could. But made sure not to utter a word, less the wrath of their GM come down upon them. Though Velma had been too distracted with helping Daphne set up her character to remember that she had threatened them with a penalty if they said anything.

"These spots are for your character information. Like their hair, eyes and such. I figured you wanted to play a female character, so that goes here. And I don't know if you want to try any of the more complex races, so I figured a human would work for now. When you get more used to the game, you can try some of the other races. They each have their own bonuses and negatives, so humans are a good starter as they don't have any of those. They are pretty standard, with no pluses, but also no minuses. So you don't have to keep that in mind for certain things."

Pointing to the various spots, Velma tried to explain where everything went, and Daphne filled in the spots for things once she knew what was expected there.

"Alright, now you can work on the history and your characters overall appearance later. You just have to run it by me, to make sure it fits in the story we have. I'll give you some rough background so you know what kind of world we are working in and where your character will be coming from." Looking over the paper, she tried to figure out what they needed to cover next. Though the room was oddly quiet. It was only then, did Velma remember what she had said earlier.

"Alright guys, you were good. You can talk now. I'll keep that in mind for later, so you might get bonus exp for behaving." A collective sigh came from the guys, smiles cracking across their faces. A rough high five cross the table at the mention of bonus exp for them. Which of course earned an odd look from Daphne.

"... That is so weird..." She admitted aloud, not quite getting what had happened.

"You'll learn." Velma smiled, knowing that if her hunch was right, she would be able to convert Daphne with little to no trouble. She had always wanted to bring her over to the dark side... and Maidens and Monsters might just be the thing to tip her off the edge into the world of geeks with the rest of them.


	4. Roll for Initiative!

**WARNING! GEEK ALERT!** _This chapter will be filled with geeky terms and botch rolls. So if you have a low willpower, roll now for a chance to flee the scene._

* * *

><p>"Alright... so I can make the appearance and history later, but what about these boxes here? I figure my um... Stats? Are a good thing to know? How do they work?" Looking the page over, Daphne noticed the major set of unfilled boxes and lines were about the middle.<p>

"Ah, those are what tell you how well you will do things." Fred pointed out. "Like Strength, is how much you can carry, and how strong you will hit things. Intelligence helps with you spells and such, so that would be a good thing for your pally to have."

What he said made sense to Daphne. They had to have some way to figure how well the characters could do something. But what determined what she wrote in that box? But it seemed that Fred knew what she was thinking. With glittering eyes, he looked over at the rest of the guys and smiled.

"Gang, I think it's time to break out the dice!"

_Dice?_ Daphne didn't have much time to muse over what they exactly meant, as the guys all dove to retrieve something. Rustling here and there, they all scrambled to get the various containers that sat nearby, just waiting to be used. With the sounds of things rattling off each other, the gang placed their dice bags upon the table about the same time. It made a bunch of clatter, which was only topped by the guys, flipping the various bags open and letting their cargo scatter across the table.

Each with piles of dice in front of them, Daphne was surprised at the amount of different shapes and colors each person had. Though for the most part, each person had a color scheme and pattern to the piles. Which Daphne could appreciate immensely.

Unsurprisingly, Red had a set of dark red dice. Though at closer inspection they were more like a speckled egg shell look, using various shades of light and dark reds. Looking over at Fred s pile, his dice looked like marble, most of them in a pretty blue color, with ribbons of white throughout the surface. When she cast her glance over at Shaggy, she was at first unhappy as it looked as if he had broken the appearance of theme since he had all sorts of colors in his pile. But at closer inspection, ever single die was two toned. As the bottom was one color, and about the middle the die changed color into something else. So while he didn't have one uniformed color scheme, the pattern stayed true. And at second glance to Scooby, he had a similar case. They were all sorts of colors, but they all were the type of dice that were transparent.

_She would so need to get her own..._

Looking over at them all, she noticed that Velma had already had her dice out. Standing up to be able to peer across the table, she noticed that Velma had not only a theme in color, but also in pattern like Fred and Red. Though hers were all metallic looking, and very pretty.

"Ohhhhh... I like Velma's."

"_NO!_" Came a group response from the guys around her, which shocked her.

"Why not?" She snorted in defiance. Hers looked the best, and she liked that she had a pretty and consistent theme and color.

"It's like' a curse to touch the GM's dice!" Shaggy tried to talk some sense into Daphne.

"Rah rah! R'ursed!" Came the quick response to back up his lanky companion.

"Cursed?" She just couldn't believe it, why would it be a curse to touch the game master s dice and use them? She looked to Velma, who just looked amused and shrugged at her. Which didn't help.

"I can't explain it Daph, but when ever any player touches the dice that is used by the Game Master, it then makes all of your rolls bad. And I mean really bad. So when you want to roll to save your character, you'll botch!" Fred said, earning another look towards Velma from Daphne.

"I can't logically explain it either. But as long as I have been playing, that odd coincidence always seems to occur. If a player touches the dice, they seem to suffer when they roll. And sometimes it even wears off to the players dice, cursing them as well." Velma added, shrugging again. She tried once to calculate the statistical phenomenon of the curse GM dice, but only got a headache as a result.

"Oh, and in case you are wondering what a 'botch' is, it's when you want to roll a dice high, and you get a one instead. If you get a one, the Game Master has the right to come up with all sorts of bad things that could happen. Well, if the situation is right." Red added, just in case Daphne had been wondering.

"Well, I'm not going to be that mean to Daphne... _Yet_." Daphne felt a little worried about that little word Velma added at the end, but at least she had a bit of time to get used to the game before Velma decided to be evil. After all, she didn't even know if she would like playing. She would have to get that far in order to see.

"Alright, now let's get down to the stats. Borrow Fred's dice for now. His are pretty cooperative overall."

* * *

><p>With a bunch of dice rolls later, Daphne was basically ready to try her character out. After giving her character some thought, she decided to name her Joanna. Giving her basic gear and traditional sword and shield, Daphne felt ready to give Joanna a try.<p>

"Alright. You now have your character made. But I don't want to rush you into this, so let's do a sample dungeon interaction. For the most part, the adventures tend to be either in forests, towns or dungeons. So let's pretend you and the guys are running through a dungeon and you run into a monster that tries to attack you."

Moving herself back to her end of the table, Velma tries to set up the scene to give Daphne an idea of combat. Another round of shuffling about Daphne, and the guys all pull out small miniatures of themselves. Well, of their characters at least. Getting up, they moved towards a roll of plastic that Velma had unwound and placed upon the table. Getting up herself, Daphne wanted to know what was going on.

Approaching the plastic, she could see that it was covered in small squares that covered corner to corner. Velma had gone to work on it with a black marker, laying out a space that might exist in the dungeon. It was a pretty simple set up, four walls and two doors on either side. Once Velma was finished drawing, she watched as the guys placed their little figures on the board.

"As you can see the guys doing, the miniatures represent their characters and where they are placed in the room. Consider each square to be ten feet, which means that most characters can move 60 feet, or 6 squares. And unless you have something that is long ranged, you have to be standing next to, or diagonally from what you are attacking. Here..." Giving a generalized explanation, Velma quickly moved to her pile of miniatures and found something she could use to represent Daphne for now. Finding a one of the few female characters, (that wasn't a damsel) Velma placed it on the board.

"Whoo! Perfect!" Shouted Red, approving of the chosen piece. Sadly, Velma didn't have a good female knight, or paladin equivalent. And the only other pieces she had were more robed, and cloaked characters... so she had to resort to the one piece that she had left. Which was a bikini mailed, Amazon.

"...We'll have to get you a better miniature later. But for now, this will work as a substitute. sorry Daph." Velma apologized.

"Whatever. It works for now..." She rolled her eyes, not to glad at how worked up Red seemed at the character.

"... Still looks like it chafes." Daphne murmured.

Adding the piece in front of the rest of the guys, Daphne's Joanna was now ready for battle. Fishing for another mini, Velma plucked three rats from her collection and placed them a few spaces away from the gang.

"Alright. As you enter the dungeon room, it appears that several sets of eyes have noticed your entrance. As soon as everyone moves past the door, the three rats move in to strike. Roll initiative." Velma set the scene loosely, not going into too much detail as this was only a test to show Daphne how it worked.

"Initiative is basically to see who gets to go first in combat." Added Red, making sure Daphne wasn't lost in the terminology. Picking up one of the dice, he showed it to her.

"You want to take one of these twenty side die, and roll it. The higher your number, the better you did. And then you add any bonuses that your character might have for this situation, and then you let the GM know what you got. Whoever gets the highest goes first. And then it moves on to the next highest, and so forth. And if you tie with someone in having the same number, then you have to look at your intelligence and see who is higher. And if for some strange reason that is tied, then you move to your Dexterity. Get it?"

Looking at the sheet she had, she looked at the various stats he pointed out. It made sense. But now the hard part... _Which was the twenty die?_

Looking at the one that Red had held up, she looked over to the pile that she had been borrowing from Fred. Rolling a few around, she noticed that some were easier to notice then others. The little pyramid looking one only went up to the number 4, so that wasn't it. And she was familiar with what a six sided die looked like, as it was the most common die used in board games. It was the other ones that gave her a bit of trouble. The one that looked like two four sided dice put together was an eight, so that wasn't it. Which moved her to the next up... Looking at the sides, she found that it went to ten. Though it looked similar to the eight sided dice, so she bet she might confuse them later. Though looking at the top of the ten side, it almost looked like an umbrella from above. The twelve side almost looked like a squared off soccer ball, with little hexagon patterns to them. Cute, but not what she was looking for. Which finally got her to the last type in the bunch. She figured it was a twenty side. It looked almost round, at least compared to the other dice. With each panel that represented a number looking like a triangle. Flipping it around, she moved through the numbers till she finally saw the number twenty.

"Ok. So this is a twenty side. Now I roll this and tell Velma then number, right?" Daphne mused aloud, keeping track of what she had been told. Why rolling this was fun, she didn't know. But then again, they had just started. So she would wait on her decision of if she liked it or not.

"Yeah. Like' roll it." Shaggy agreed, shaking his head up and down.

"Alright... Here I go." Rolling the die in her hand, she made sure to shake it a bunch before she let it hit the table. Bumping and rolling a ways, the dice bounced between numbers before finally landing and staying still. Leaning over, Daphne looked at the number that was facing skyward.

"So, how good is an 18?"

Pushing to their feet, the rest of the gang at her side moved to look at the amazing roll that Daphne had gotten on her first try.

"Wow Daph, that's like' really good!" Shaggy was surprised, he had never been that lucky to get that high on his first initiative.

"...It doesn't roll that nicely for me..." Grumbled Fred, believing his dice liked Daphne better then they liked him. True, they occasionally rolled that nicely, but they also didn't play favorites and tended to give him equal bad rolls for good. At least they were fair.

"Yeah, that was really good. Now with that noted, what did everyone else get?" Velma asked from beyond the table, with pencil and paper ready to take notes on what everyone got.

"Oh, whoops. Let me roll now." Red felt embarrassed. So caught up in what Daphne had rolled, to roll his own. And the rest of the guys had forgotten too. Which earned a bunch of rattling as they all rolled their respective dice.

"Aw man, I knew that the dice liked Daphne more than me..." Fred complained, not happy with his roll. "I got a four."

"I'm not too much better Fred, I got me a nine." Red admitted, feeling let down by his dice.

"Whoo! I got a twelve!" Shaggy said happily, not expecting to do as good at Daphne had, but better than the other two guys.

"_Whine~_" All eyes were drawn to the Dane, who couldn't even speak. All he could do was whimper as he looked down at his roll.

"Oh man, sorry Scoob." Red tried to comfort him. "Better luck next time. Scooby botched."

"Alright." Said Velma as she nodded, taking down each number and putting it on her paper. Taking up her own dice, she gave them a roll in order to figure out what each rat got. Unable to see what Velma got, Daphne wasn't sure what that meant. Leaning to Shaggy next to her, she made sure to keep her voice down as she asked him something.

"So... what prevents her from writing down whatever she wants?"

"Good question. But it's all on honesty. It's the same for us, as she can't see what we roll. But it's more fun if you obey what the dice say, rather than lie about what you didn't like' get. Not to say that... that doesn't happen. But the GM can call you on it, so if you plan to lie, lie well."

Spoke Shaggy, giving her a smile at the end which earned a wide eyed look from her. She wouldn't have thought Shaggy to be someone who lied, but apparently it happened from time to time. But you can't get caught, or bad things would happen.

"But Velma is a nice Game Master. She doesn't like to kill off her players... At least not right away. So it's not bad to be honest and tell her. Sometimes she'll even change her rolls, just so that the monster won't kill you right away." Shaggy added with a nod.

Thinking about it, she hoped she would never have that decision on her hands. Though she didn't understand why someone would want to lie about what they got. Since if they for some reason got a lot of good rolls, then it would seem a bit funny. So she just hoped that her rolls would be fair.

"Alright. Daph.. er... Joanna goes first. What do you want to do?" Velma asked, though she had to add more since Daphne really didn't know what she could do.

"During each turn that a player has, they can do certain things within reason. Depending on what weapon you have, you might want to specify that you are carrying it out so you don't have to use part of your turn to draw your weapon. But I figure that since you are walking around in a dungeon, you had your weapon drawn just in case."

That made sense to Daphne. _Why would she be wandering around in a dark and dangerous place without her weapon out?_

"Aright, so can I move and attack a rat in the same turn?" Daphne wondered. Velma nodded in response.

"Yes, since the rats are close enough, you can move to get close and attack. Though sometimes you might want to discuss with the rest of the group what you guys want to do. Well, to a point. No full on discussions and elaborate planning... but more like. 'You go for that one, I'll kill this one' works."

"That makes sense. I figure we are just going to kill them, right?" She asked about her, earning nods of agreement from the rest of her party. So she got up and moved her miniature towards the first rat.

"Ok, I want to attack this rat in front of me. How do I do that?"

"So you are attacking with your one handed short sword?" Velma asked. Earning a look down at her paper to see if that was in fact what she had in her hand.

"Ummm... er... yeah. Yes. I have a um, one d six short sword m... So, what does that mean?" Daphne was not exactly sure what the rest of the parts meant, but at least she knew what a short sword looked like! She had been around plenty of knights and suits of armor to know what a sword looked like.

"The M means medium size. Since you are a human, you are medium sized. Now Red is playing a dwarf, so he might end up having some things in the small category. With the exception that his strength is enough to handle the larger size that you could carry. And the 1d6 is the damage that your sword can do. So it can hit up to six points of damage in one swing. So in order to see if you can hit, you have to roll the twenty side again. And each monster has a specific difficulty in order to hit it and have it get hurt. While these rats are low level monsters, they will be easier to hit. And if you found someone with like armor, the number might be harder. So roll and see if you hit them." Velma explained, hoping that she didn't overwhelm Daphne with what she had said.

"Alright, I take this thing, and roll that and see what I get in order to hit the rat."

Taking up the dice she had rolled before, she shook it in her hand. Letting the die loose, she leaned up to see what it landed on. Her brows immediately sunk.

"Five..." Looking disappointed, she had been hoping for better. Especially with her getting such a nice roll at first. Which earned snickers from the rest of the guys.

"It happens." Fred tried to console her, though he was tiny bit happy that kind of roll happened to her. It made him feel that his dice were in fact biased, and would roll however it felt like it would roll. No matter who was behind the die.

"Alright, now that normally wouldn't hit the rat, but we'll pretend that you got an eight. This is only for showing you, so there is no reason to make you miss at this point. You need an eight or higher in order to hit this rat. It actually would be lower had they not been kind of small, and agile. So say you got the eight, and now you would have to roll for damage. So find a six sided die and give it a roll." Velma offered, though Daphne was still a bit annoyed at the low roll.

Looking over the pile that Fred had, she snorted and moved to steal one of Shaggy's two toned die. Rolling it in her hands, she hoped that she would have better luck with his.

"Five! Whoo!" Even though she got the same number as the previous roll, this had been a different sided die. So in this respect, five was a high number.

"Ok, you hit the rat for five damage. The rat died." Picking up one of her die, Velma gave it a roll.

"Why did you do that?" Daphne wondered, seeing Velma roll something on her end.

"The Game Master does that sometimes." Fred explained. "Usually you don't ask. It's just something that they do."

"It's fine Fred. Yes, normally I will roll a lot more then what I will explain. But I can tell you this time what it was, to give you an idea. I have three rats here. You just killed one. And I had yet to give an assignment to which rat on my list was which. So that roll you saw me do was in order to pick which of the three rats died. So I know which one initiative roll was lost. Had for some reason all the rats rolled really low, except one... it might not be fair if I killed off the one rather than the other depending on the situation. So I left this time up to chance, and one of the higher rolls got killed off."

"Oh, I get it. Thanks for explaining." Daphne liked knowing what was going on, but with Velma's explanation she got why sometimes the game master might not reveal what they were doing to the players. So she knew not to ask later, though the lack of knowledge might bug her after a while.

"Alright, so one rat is dead." Looking at her list, she tried to see who was next in line. As she spoke, she knocked over the dead rat to show that it had been taken care of."Ah, Shaggy. Your Sorcerer is up next."

"Like' alright man! Now it's time to show how cool Northwode is!" Shaggy said with glee, giving his character sheet a look.

"Northwode?" Leaning over, she hoped that Fred would be able to shed some light on why he had named his character that.

"He's from the North forest. Forest is wood. Aka Northwode. It's apparently an English name. He got it out of a baby book that his mom had, and he liked the meaning. So he went with it." Fred shrugged, it wasn't a bad name. Though it continued Shaggy's long tradition of 'Norths' As his last one was named 'Northclyf', and the one before that was 'Northtun'. But Fred had to give him credit, he was playing the son of his previous character, so it was a family tradition.

"Ah ha!" Spoke up Shaggy as he had finally found what he was looking for. "I want to cast _Ball of Flame_ at the right rat." Moving up, Shaggy pointed to the rat in question. Though it was the reverse for Velma, but she knew what he meant.

"Alright. Are you using your special skill for concentration?" Velma asked, taking down notes as they talked.

"Yeah I figure we won't get more than a few rounds at most, so I can use my skill now."

"Ok, Now what we just were talking about is a skill that Shaggy's Sorcerer has. Normally it would take two turns for him to cast _Ball of Flame_. But with using his concentration skill, which he can only use every ten turns, he can use it on the first turn. So it's a useful skill, but sometimes you might want to save something like that, for the right time. Alright Shaggy, roll to hit. Difficulty ten."

Taking up his dice, he gave his twenty side a roll. With everyone leaning over, they all saw when the die landed on a thirteen.

"Whoo! 13! I hit the rat." Shaggy did a little dance, as he knew that he would be causing some damage to the rat.

"Save the diddy for later. Roll for damage." Velma rolled her eyes, though amused as well. "Now if I remember correctly, _Ball of Flame_ is a 1d4 roll, with a plus one to it, right?"

"Yeah. I could have boosted it with the '_Prayer to Fire_' skill, but I didn't think I needed it on a rat. So let's see how much damage I get." Picking up his pyramid shaped die, he gave it a roll. Skittering across the table, the die eventually settled on a number.

"Whoo! Four plus one... Five damage!"

"And another rat dead. Hm..." Looking over at her paper, she took up another die and gave it a roll. But this time, didn't inform Daphne and the rest of what she was doing. Reaching up, she took out the downed rat, putting the mini on its side.

"You guys got lucky. One of the rats rolled a ten for initiative, but he was the one that just died. So Red is up."

"Ok! Now it's time for Renilli to take the stage!" Snatching up his die, it rolled about in his massive mitts as he considered his options.

"Alright, I'm just going to take my Mace to it." Pushing his mini forward, he moved into position in front of the last rat. Giving the die a bit more of a roll, it clattered across the table. Leaning over, Red looked so ready to move on when he saw the result. Turning to Daphne, he pointed at his roll with a grimace.

"...And that's what not to do."

Laughing, Daphne saw the dreaded botch grace the table yet again that night. It was a funny occurrence... as long as it didn't happen to her. And she laughed again as she watched Red pick up his die and chastise it for rolling bad in front of Daphne.

"Well, Red botched. So I won't be too mean this time." Looking over at Velma, Red awaited his fate.

"Getting overexcited with the smiting of the evil rat, Renilli put too much power into his swing. As the mace moved down towards the rat, the mace slid out of your hand and sailed across the room with a clatter. Ok Fred, you tied with the last rat for the initiative. But I'm pretty sure your int is higher than the rat, so it's your turn."

"Alright. Now it's up to me to save the day!" Taking up his die, Fred knew exactly what he wanted to do. "Alright, I'm going to use my _Double Shot_ skill. Which allows me to take a damage hit in order to get a chance to hit twice. So I'll be rolling twice and seeing if either hit."

Rolling the die, Daphne watched as it landed and came up something before he rolled it again. Though he had done it so fast, that she almost missed what had come up.

"Alright, I got a ten and an eight. So two hits." Though what he said aloud, made Daphne blink. She was very sure that she had seen a three and an eight. So Fred was cheating on his rolls. But he had done it so fast, that she had barely caught it. But Fred's face didn't betray his lie; He only looked to Velma for confirmation.

"Ok, With the _Double Shot_ skill, your bow damage decreases from an 1d6, to a 1d4. Roll and see damage." Velma didn't even seem to bat an eye at the lie. So Daphne didn't know if she just didn't care, or if she had even noticed. _But why had he lied? When it was not even part of the game? Or was it just to show her that you could?_ Though when Fred had turned to her, he gave her a wink. Knowing that she had seen what he had done.

Snatching up two of his dice, he rolled to see just how much of a punch his arrows would do.

"A one and a three. So four damage."

"And the last rat is dead." Velma spoke, tipping the last rat over.

"And now the room is safe to explore. So that was a round of combat. You would keep taking turns till everything was dead, or everyone took a turn and then you would roll for another initiative. And then do it all over again. So what do you think? Though don't cheat like Fred did, or at least make sure not to wink when you were doing such a thing. It tips the GM off." Velma snorted, but didn't seem too angry.

"Just be happy that this wasn't a real combat. Or you would have lost some experience for cheating." Velma warned, making Fred hang his head in acceptance.

"That... was interesting. But fun! I think I'll like playing this. So when do we start the real game?" Daphne wondered, energetic to keep going. Which earned a snicker from the room.

"We probably should call it a night tonight." Which earned a round of 'awws' from the gang. But Velma made sure to wave them down. "But how about having another night tomorrow night? Now that Daphne's in on it, we can hold the game as long as no mystery comes up.

Whoo! Sounds like a plan! Count me in for tomorrow! Red whooped, collecting up his die and depositing them into his bag. He also made quick work to collect his papers, pencils, and his mini. The rest of the gang wasn't short behind him, packing everything up around Daphne as she watched. She didn't have any dice of her own, or pencils for that matter. Which was something that would have to be fixed.

As they all got collected and ready to turn in, Red moved towards the back window out of habit.

"Uh Red?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, you can use the front door now." Fred pointed out, earning a snicker from the rest.

"Oh, heh. I forgot. I got so used to exiting that way that I headed to it without thinking. Man, that is going to take some time to get used to." Shouldering his bag, he moved to follow the rest of the gang upstairs and let him out the front for a change.

With waves and quiet goodbyes, they saw Red off. As the rest of the gang moved to turn in, Shaggy moved to bump Daphne as she moved towards the stairs that lead to her room.

"I can't wait for tomorrow night!" He chirped happily, eager for tomorrow to come.

"Me too." Daphne admitted honestly. It had been fun, what little she had played. "…Good night Shaggy."

* * *

><p><em>I hope you guys weren't too buried with all the geek speak. I just wanted to explain this in a way that if someone didn't know how these kinds of table top games worked, they could understand it roughly. Or at least combat. And no, the story isn't going to be that in depth with rolls every time. So don't worry!<em>

_Oh, and all the rolls are based on actual rolls I did as I was writing. So ever botch and even Fred's lied rolls, were from me and my dice. And even the descriptions of the die coloring are from my pack of dice. I love me my Metallic and marbled dice._


	5. Of Dice and Daphne's

Daphne's dreams were filled with swinging swords, and saving maidens from dragons. It was nice to finally not be on the receiving end of being saved, but instead the save-y. But eventually all dreams have to end, and Daphne woke up back into reality.

Groaning; the Red head glared at her clock, which blinked at her without remorse. As good of a mood she had been from getting up, she could not fight her initial difficulty getting up. At least Not without her coffee. Which was the first item on her things of things to do today!

Once caffeinated and dressed, Daphne was on the hunt!

Noticing that Velma was not her in room, Daphne had to go through the checklist of all the places that she could be. Finally finding the woman tucked behind her laptop, as it glowed in the darkness of the basement. Bend over the keyboard, her fingers flew across the keys, adding text to the program she had open.

"Hm... Why does something tell me, that you aren't working on some NASA project there?" Daphne said aloud, spooking the younger woman. With her hair almost bristling in surprise, Velma looked like a cat as she snapped her head around and dived to cover the screen with her body.

"Now I really know that isn't a NASA project... Now I wanna know what it is..." Daphne mused mischievously, picking on Velma as she moved in with her coffee in tow.

"... _Geez_ Daph! don't do that." Calming down, Velma ran a hand through her hair to make sure that it hadn't fuzzed from her fright. Breathing in and out, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat as it pound in her ears.

"You're not allowed to see this. It's part of plot for the game tonight. I got up early in hopes to be able to finish the update before anyone got up. So Game Masters only. Shoo shoo!" Giving Daphne a wave, she wanted her to back up and out of reading range for the plot.

Laughing, Daphne put up her hands and backed off. Moving around her, she made sure to settle on one of the couches out of visual range of the computer, so not to tempt herself into looking if Velma wasn't paying full attention. Sipping her cup, she savored her dark roast as Velma settled back into her typing.

"Thankfully I'm almost done." Said Velma sighing, not having expected Daphne of all people, to have woken up earlier then she normally did. Seconds passed as Velma ticked away at her keyboard, and Daphne sighed into her coffee. With the Redhead in her peripheral view... Velma could no longer hold back her curiosity.

"So you like it so far?" Velma mused, peeking over where Daphne was sitting.

"Yeah, it seems kinda fun so far. And I liked killing the rat. Though knowing which dice to use..."

"Die... Dice is plural. Die is single." Velma corrected out of habit, not even looking up from the screen to do so.

"Fine, **Die**. Knowing which _die_ to use, might take me a bit." Daphne stressed the word, trying to be proper and annoying at the same time. Velma picked the strangest times to be whiny about her word usage.

"Yeah, it takes a little bit, but that's ok. Sometimes even the guys have to ask which to use. So don't feel bad asking about anything." Velma replied, putting the finishing touches on her work. Happy that Daphne had surprised her towards the end of her work, rather than the beginning.

"Anything?" Raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help but grin at her friend. Which wasn't missed by Velma.

"... Do I want to know?"

* * *

><p>"I probably shouldn't have asked..." Velma grumbled as she buried her head into a palm. Daphne's request had been one that she hadn't expected.<p>

"Oh come on Velms. This will be fun!" She said as she got out of her car and came to where Velma was sulking. Bumping her with an elbow, she grinned down at the shorter lady.

"..." Looking up from her hand, she found herself looking at one of her favorite haunts. Well, not literally, but it had been a place she could be found when she wasn't at home, or in the library.

"Cricket Comics. Hm, funny name." Daphne said, looking up to the sign that adorned the top of the little shop. Snuggled among several other shops, the little comic shop was in plain sight but could be missed among all the other shops that littered that road. And it had been off a major road, so unless you were looking for it, you probably would miss it.

"So this place will have the stuff?" Daphne wondered, unsure if the little shop would have what she wanted. After last night, Daphne wasn't going to play her character without the proper gear. She already had the Lavender theme pencils and notepads, but she was missing some key pieces for her to play. Mainly the Dice, matching bag, and proper miniature.

"Yeah, they will have everything you need. But Daphne... Are you sure you want to go in there? I mean, I could easily go in and get them for you. This isn't like any normal store you might go shopping at..." Velma tried to offer, but only got cut off.

"Oh bah. This is shopping! How different could it be?" And with that, Daphne confidently strode into the shop.

"Oh boy... Here we go." Velma sighed, gritting her teeth and braced herself for anything.

Pushing the door open, a bell chimed above Daphne's head. Out of habit, the whole room turned to look at the newest customer. But unlike anything that normally came through those doors... An Angel descended!

_With long locks of Crimson blowing behind her in the wind, her skin looked like a porcelain doll. Flawless and untouched by weather or wear. Gracing the presence of mere mortals, robed in the most royal of purples and greens... She moved as if she was walking on air. With a radiant smile, she shone like the heavens as she spoke to the man behind the counter. Such a lucky man..._

Inner dialogue aside, Velma walked into a small mob that crowded the front room. Coming out of every nook and corner, various males of all ages tried to push and shove the rest out of the way, so that they could get a look at Daphne. Thankfully the mass was only a small population of the various geeks that were regulars there. But it was people like them, which gave geeks like her a bad name.

"I'll have her roll my saving throws any time..."  
>"I wonder if those are natural twenties..."<br>"I memorized charm person 20 times today. You're bound to fail once, so why don't you make this easy on yourself and have a drink with me?"  
>"She's <strong>an Angel<strong>!"  
>"Damn, baby! I just failed a will-save!"<br>"Man oh man... I can use my delay action all night long!"  
>"Baby, I know every page in the Player's handbook."<p>

Groaning loudly, it was then that the mass noticed Velma. Looking over at her, and then at Daphne at the counter, they put two and two together and massed over towards where Velma stood. It was like trying to deflect a thousand bees... and failing all her rolls.

"Velma!" They all shouted in Unison. Now normally she didn't mind the swarm, but this time she knew it wasn't just because they had read her newest campaign that had come out.

"Galactic Elder! Dungeon Megas! Dragon Tamer! Level 5 Tachyon Warrior! Oh The Great Dinkley! You grace us with your presence! Please tell us that you are with that amazing model of a woman over there?"

Velma wasn't sure if she should be pleased that they got all her titles right, or bothered at what they called Daphne. Though she figured that it wasn't the first, nor the last time Daphne would have a pack of guys fawning over her. But part of her was annoyed for some reason... But the group didn't stay focused on her for too long, drifting back to ogle at Daphne's backside.

"Can you believe it? A real live woman is actually in our presence guys!" Called one guy, almost topping a nearby display as he tried to lean on it and look Daphne's way.

"Man, I thought they were only that pretty in myths and legends!" Replied another.

"What about me? Am I chopped liver?" Grumbled Velma at the response. She had never gotten such a clamor any time she had come in! And she knew she wasn't as nice looking as Daphne, but she wasn't a slouch either. At least she had more confidence in herself and felt a bit insulted that they didn't make as much of a racket for her.

Turning to her, they gave her a sideways look and then looked back at Daphne as if to compare.

"But Velma... You're a geek like the rest of us. You don't count." Reasoned one of the guys, bring his attention back to the Redhead at the counter.

Velma sighed. For the first time that she could recall, she was upset that she had been called a geek. She knew it was just her pride speaking, but it was a bit irritating. Shooting a sour look Daphne's way, she only held it a bit before she softened her expression. It wasn't Daphne's fault that she looked so nice. Well, she did add to her natural beauty with all the work she did in the morning, but Velma had seen the woman without it, and knew that the underlying structure was just as nice without all the make-up. And Daphne had to deal with these kinds of stares and ridiculous cat calls all the time, and figured that must get annoying after a while. So maybe it was better that she was considered 'one of the guys' here. It certainly made coming here easier.

Now that she was thinking about it, she felt bad for Daphne. Velma would probably hate coming to the Comic shop if every time she got this kind of attention. She would never be able to hold a game, or shop in here in peace.

"Oh Great high Dragon Tamer!" Called a voice, emerging out from nowhere to grasp a death hold upon her orange sleeve. He tugged on it earnestly, though his eyes never left the angelic figure by the register.

"Come on now... you got to tell me her stats!"

Blinking, Velma was taken aback with his comment, but rolled her eyes at the near drooling sight of the man. Her head dropping at the realization of who it was.

"Calm down Merv, before you yank my sleeve off..."

"Come on Velma... Game Master... Just a few of her stats. She looks like she maxed out in her charisma, but her Dex is way high too! And she doesn't look like much of a fighter, so her Int must be pretty good as well. Hmmm... I'm thinking Sexy Monk."

Groaning again, Velma wished to find a hole to bury herself in. While the rest of the crowd had been pretty bad, Merv was in a league of his own. She hated dealing with him whenever she came, and this visit was no different. Only instead of him trying to force her to re-write her finish and published campaign to his own liking, he was wanting to tear off her sleeve in exchange of info of Daphne.

"She's out of your league Merv. Deal with it." Not noticing the jingle of the bells behind them, the group had missed the newest addition to the mob by the front door. Pushing himself towards the front of the group, someone had gotten in close enough to get behind Velma. With a massive hand coming out of nowhere, it clutched Merv's hand and made him let go of his death grip on Velma's sleeve. Thankful for the relief, she looked up to find a grinning, curly head looking down back at her. And Merv noticed too... Making his face grow white and forced him to slink back into the hole he had crawled out of.

"Thanks Red." Velma sighed thankfully for the larger man's interference. For some strange reason... the huge, biker looking Red seemed to have frightened Merv away. With a glare about at the remaining group, it slowly dissolved to their respective places they had been before Daphne's entrance. Earning a chuckle from Red, he was proud of himself. He might be a geek, but he was an Alpha geek. And wasn't going to let a bunch of lesser geeks push him, or his friends around.

"Glad to be of service, Oh Galactic Elder!" He said with a bow, the large grin still plastered across his face.

Rolling her eyes, Velma let it pass. Normally she would have at least elbowed him for the comment, but he made Merv go away. Which was a great help!

"So what brings you to the shop? I didn't think you needed anything for the game tonight?" Velma asked, curious on why he had such amazing timing. Not that she was complaining.

"Heh, I saw Daphne's car out front... And well let's just say I thought something like this would happen. That and I had to see this for myself." Leaning off to the side, he watched as Daphne was chatting up the eager man behind the counter... who was all but jumping to get her anything she might want to look at.

"Let me guess... The Dice will be Lavender in color." Red mused, chuckling down at the sighing brunette in front of him.

"...I wouldn't doubt it. She already has the stationary. So she convinced me to tell her how to get here. Though it could be more Thistle, or a light Orchid for all I know It s so hard for me to tell which shades of purples are which, no matter how many times Daphne shows me the color wheel she came up with." Velma grumbled.

"Harsh. And then the swarm, eh?" Red looked about, sending a few of the lurkers back into their holes to gaze from a distance.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad until Merv. Just the usual cheesy Table top pick up lines."

"Any ones about Natural Twenties?"

"Yep."

"Bah, no imagination. Though I bet the person who was the first to put it on a shirt... is rolling in money by now."

"I wouldn't doubt that. Pity we didn't come up with it first." Velma smiled, though she wouldn't have wanted to be known for something as silly as that. But the money would be a plus... Not that she didn't have enough squirreled away in her accounts.

"Yeah. Would have been nice." Red sighed, but he didn't mind it too much either. He wasn't as rich as the gang was, but he got along well enough. And his work was more then fulfilling enough, to make up for the lack of a fortune.

"... any Halfling comments about their 'size bonuses'?" Red offered.

"Hm? Not that I noticed." Trying to recall through the bad lines, Velma didn't recall hearing that one this time around. Now the last time she was at a convention, maybe... But not here.

"Ah, a missed opportunity. He could have said... Oh hi Daph!" Red cut himself off before he had gotten any further, greeting the other Red head as she came over to where they had been standing.

Tossing a bag into the air, Daphne caught it without a problem. The bag rattling with the tell tale sign of being filled with dice. And no doubt they were all the same color and theme as well. Leaving it to the fashion conscious Daphne to get Dice that matched. Though for the first time in a while, Velma totally understood the feeling. While she might not be into clothes and shoe shopping, she took great care when it came to buying her dice. It had to have a certain look, and color scheme in order to fit in her collection.

"He could have said what?" Daphne wondered, giving Red as look as she came over. She had missed most of what had happened behind her, but she knew that something had gone on. And with the appearance of Red, it seemed to have dispersed.

"Trust me Daph, you don't need to know what he was going to say." Velma sighed, shooting Red a warning look, just in case he felt like sharing.

"Now I want to know!" Daphne smiled, trying to bat her eyes at Red to make him talk.

"Sorry... Game Master has me at a negative to willpower... so I can't be charmed by you at the moment." Red admitted, holding up in hands in a defeated gesture. He knew better not to anger Velma in her own territory. And this comic shop was certainly one of them. And she was Game Master here as well.

"Velmmaa!" Daphne pouted, directing her attack at Velma instead. But Velma had been braced for a trap as she knew this would be coming.

"Trust me, its better if you didn't know." Velma nodded before trying to change the conversation. "Have you found everything yet?"

"Hmph! No, not yet." Velma was being difficult, but Daphne had a feeling she wouldn't get anywhere this time with her best friend. Sighing, she gave up for now... And would have to corner Red when Velma wasn't around. Then she would see how well he would roll his willpower saves... or how ever that kind of thing went. Something about dice and all that.

"I still need to find my miniature. Sean behind the counter said that it would be against this wall. I want to look for a good female in armor..." Pausing long enough, she cast a glance at Red. "...And no Bikini Mail."

"Awww... You're no fun." He mused, not really all that disappointed. As much as he liked bugging her about the Amazon, thinking about it A Paladin was a better addition to the group. They already had a spell caster, Ranger and him as the Cleric. So another healer, which also was a fighter, was a worthy addition. Plus it would take some pressure off him for healing all the time. This was always a welcome thing!

I hate to admit it, but I kinda like the idea that Fred had. I wonder if they make a mini that has her hair falling backwards in the wind, and all that pretty gleaming armor, plus killer looking weapons? Daphne wondered, giving a few of the little packages a look.

It s too bad we don t know anyone who could make a miniature. Then I could get exactly what I wanted. Daphne sighed, wishing for the impossible. Or so she thought. Someone who would be able to craft Joanna just like Fred had described...

Looking up at Red, Velma couldn't help but snicker. Though she tried her hardest to stifle it against her hand. Red on the other hand, was almost choking on his laughter. Almost giving it away right then and there. Daphne had no clue how close she was to her ideal miniature, and the man who could make it a reality.

What s wrong with you guys? Daphne noticed that something was up, which almost made Red lose it. Excusing himself, he rushed outside before he cracked, leaving Velma to answer the question by herself.

I think I have something at home that will be able find exactly what you want Velma managed to keep herself composed enough to tell Daphne about it. Grabbing Daphne s hand, Velma tried to drag her out of the shop before she cracked and spoiled it all. Giving a wave behind the two of them, Velma made sure to shout a farewell to Sean before the door closed behind the two of them.


	6. Making a Mini

"Oh come on!" Velma pleaded, stalking back and forth in the room she was standing in. In her frustration, she had been pacing in circles, almost wearing a hole in the floor. Flustered, she shook her arms about in reaction to his dawdling.

"...But..."

"No buts Fred. It's a perfect opportunity!"

Velma grumbled, annoyed that Fred was dragging his feet about this. It had been years since she had found out about his little 'secret' and it was about time he had finally gotten around to telling Daphne about it. She knew, Shaggy and Scooby knew... Heck, even _Red_ knew about it. And yet, he was still hesitant about telling Daphne.

Looking down at his desk, he had been caught off guard when Velma had come home from shopping only to have stormed his room and cornered him. He knew that it was silly, but he still felt a bit embarrassed to show off his talents and his closet... to Daphne.

Seeing that her frustration was getting nowhere, she decided to try another tactic. She switched it up, hoping this method would then work instead.

With a huff, she pretended to still be mad at him. She moved herself over to his bed and sat down roughly upon it. Crossing her arms, she tried to portray all the body language to go with her being mad. All the while, she was using it as a front as her mind went into action. She was trying to figure out exactly what to say, that would work. Tactically arranging the words to suit what she needed.

"Fine... Be stubborn." Velma snorted, trying to choose her words carefully.

Fred hung his head, fiddling with one of the figures he had been working on earlier when she had come upon him. Some of his paint had come off his ranger, and he wanted to touch it up before the game that night. As his fingers played with the figure, he thankfully wasn't looking at her, as Velma glanced over to judge his state of mind.

"Daphne still needs a mini. We looked at the comic shop, but they really didn't have what she was looking for." Glancing again, he was absorbed in his own figure to be looking at her. But she kept up her fake attitude as she grumbled about the shop. Not above a little lie, to try to get him to finally cave about this silly secret business.

"...There was one of the usual shop guys there. He was saying how that a proper pally should have cropped short hair. How that would suit the character Daphne was playing. He was showing her one of the pieces that had that look. He was saying that short was more pious, or something like that."

"Should have long, flowing hair..." Fred grumbled, having a hard time seeing why the guy would think Daphne's character would do better with short hair.

Trying not to grin at him taking the bait, she continued to reel him in. Slowly now... She thought to herself. Trying not to blow her cover by pulling to early.

"Yeah, short hair. And he was trying to convince Daphne not to have her in armor. How that was such a cliche and that _leather_ was the new plate mail."

"What!?" Turning to look at her, it was then that she had to keep her composure against him. Snorting, she tossed her hands in the air and continued her ruse.

"Yeah, he was saying that if she went leather, she would be able to put more into her agility, and less into her armor. So she would be able to be quicker on her feet." Velma continued to lie through her teeth, hoping that it would be enough to rile Fred into making the figure. Since his image was exactly what Daphne had been saying she wanted. So who better to make the mini, then the man that had suggested it? Only one more push, and she figured she would have him.

"That is so wrong!" Fred said, falling right into her hands. Slamming his figure down, he leaned over to a nearby book self and plucked one of his player manuals, and went into search mode. He knew there was a perfect set of armor in the manual, and all he would need is the example for him to be able to make it on a mini.

"And he also said that she should consider changing her weapon. Since sword and board is _soooo_ second edition."

"That's it... Bring Daphne in and I'll teach her the right way a paladin should be." Fred said, slamming down the book he was looking at, upon his desk. One of his prior characters in Velma's campaign had been a paladin, so he knew what she was going to want to use, and wanted to set her straight.

"Sure!" Pushing off the bed, Velma moved towards the door. She had almost reached the frame when a voice called out.

"Wait..."

With the tone of voice, Velma knew she was caught. Not wanting to lie any more then she already had, she turned on a heel and faced him sheepishly.

"... There wasn't any guy... was there?" Fred gave her a look, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Well, Merv was there..." Velma admitted honestly, since he was one of those crazy kinds of player, which might have suggested such crazy ideas. So she had used him as inspiration for her lie. But thankfully he hadn't stayed around to do as such.

"But..."

"...But he was scared away by Red beforehand. And I lied about that to get you too riled up about the mini so that you would finally cave and show Daphne." She admitted, honest this time. "... Sorry."

Fred paused, wanting to be mad at her but he took the time to consider it from her point of view. She never meant any harm with this lie. And she had been right last time about Daphne when he had been weary of telling her about his glasses. And she had been good about keeping the secret up until now. Red had known for a long time. And Scooby and Shaggy had surprised him one day when he had been doing a overhaul of his lighting, and had all the figures out and on the floor when they burst in and found out. And he had a few close calls with Daphne before... So maybe it was safer to just come out and tell her.

"... I forgive you." Fred sighed, but gave her a smile to let her know that he meant it. "...Will you stay and help me tell her?"

He turned away and itched his nose in embarrassment. Here he is; a large and strapping man... feeling sheepish to admit something to one of his best friends that he lived with.

"Heh." Thankful that he forgave her, she came over and gave him a hearty pat on his shoulder. Though the 'pat' made him shifts his footing so not to fall over. "Sure."

"I guess we should get this over with." He said rubbing the now sore spot. Though thankful she would stay with him as he did this.

* * *

><p>So Velma says that you can help me find someone who can make a little character for the game? Unknowing that she was in fact talking to the man who could in fact, make it. Daphne just figured that it was one of his friends that he didn't already talk to. So that was why it took Velma's prodding to ask him about it. Not that she had been able to hear what Velma had been saying, but she knew that there was some argument about it. Daphne was just thankful that Velma had finally convinced him to help her.<p>

Turning back to Velma, she tossed thumbs up at her. Happy that her friend had gone through the effort to convince Fred on her behalf. Velma was confused at why Daphne had gave her a thumbs up, but shot one back to her. She was holding back, but nearby enough to give support to either person in that room. Though she doubted Daphne would react as much as Fred was thinking. Well, at least not as negatively as he thought.

"Uh, yeah... about that..." Fred rubbed the back of his neck, unsure exactly how to go about this. He was leaning on his desk, trying not to shuffle his feet in his nervous state. It wasn't like her coming across his Trap magazine collection... this was his own hand crafted sculptures that he put days of work into... years! So it was hard for him to reveal this with little to no preparation. But Daphne was oblivious to his anxious nature, instead noticed his mini on his desk and zipped across the room to pick it up.

"Eek... be careful! The paint it still drying." Making an unmanly squeak as she picked it up, Daphne only gave him a short puzzling look before she shifted her attention back to the small miniature and moved her hands to hold it with more care.

Her eyes growing in size, she was surprised at the amount of detail was in such a small piece in her hands. The little figure was of a hooded man, leaning upon his bow with one hand, and the other resting upon a small short sword at his waist. While most of the back of the mini was all the cloak of the figure, plus a long back quiver, the front was more open and allowed the rest of the ranger's leather armor to show. Including a detailed belt, and ornate set of boots. And the hood was drawn back on one side to show the long flowing blond hair that the character had, and one pointed ear.

"Wow!" Daphne said with earnest. "So much detail in such a little thing! I'm just amazed at how all the parts of the outfit really tie together. Including this unique trim styling that is both on the boots, quiver, cloak and a bit of shirt under the leather armor. Wow!"

Leave it to Daphne, to notice how well Fred's character dresses. Velma thought with a mental snicker, leaning against the door frame.

But as Daphne dissolved into various clothing related comments, Fred's face was growing more and redder with her praises. He really had paid a lot of attention to making each of his figures, and had borrowed as few of her fashion books to get ideas for what the outfit should look like. (Daphne had a few renaissance books she had kept after one crazy mystery.) So for her to notice, and be impressed with it, he was totally pleased and taken aback. Since Daphne is always serious when it came to fashion, and the wave of praise was a bit overwhelming!

"... The person who made this is really skilled! I can't wait to meet them." Daphne said at the end of her ramble, finally taking her eyes off the mini to look over at Fred. Now that she had seen the figure up close and personal, she really wanted the person who made this to help her make hers! If the person who handmade this figure paid that much attention to Fred's mini, then she would want that same... devotion...

**_!_**

"...You made this Fred?" While Daphne could get sidetracked with fashion related things, didn't mean she couldn't put two and two together when she saw the look on Fred face when she looked up at him. He looked like he was about to explode! Not only was there pride in that look, but a bit embarrassment for all the praise she didn't know she was giving directly to him.

"Freddie! You were holding back on us! Why didn't you tell us that you were this skilled?" Daphne said for a second before Velma couldn't take it anymore and she dissolved into snickers she had been holding back the whole time of Daphne's praise. Earning a look from the woman, but only for a second.

"Looks like you had been holding back with just me... Gee thanks." She said throwing a punch, ironically in the same spot Velma had hit him earlier, knocking him finally out of his daze. Putting his hands up in his defense, he tried to wave off any more blows to that tender spot on his arm.

"Sorry... sorry..." He spoke softly, though still pretty tickled at all her praise. "...I didn't know what you would say."

Daphne sighed, and rolled her eyes at him. But put down her threatening fist which she didn't realized she had kept at the ready.

"There's more." Spoke up Velma from behind, which earned a wide eyed look from red head. Wondering what else he could be hiding? Fred gave a look to Velma, who tossed her head towards the closet with a snort. Which only served to confuse Daphne even more.

Sighing, Fred hung his head. His secret was out, and he might as well go all the way. Reaching up to his collar, he pushed his ascot out of the way to snag a thin cord that hung around his neck. Giving it a tug, he pulled at it till the contents at the end were revealed. A small silver key. He made quick work untying the key from its resting place, and made a move towards his closet.

_I always wanted to know what was in there..._ Daphne wondered, searching her memory for ever actually seeing inside. Well, after Fred had claimed the room many years prior. She could remember that the closet had been pretty big for a walk in closet, but hers had been bigger. (Which is why she chose that room over this one.) But it still had been pretty big. So she was curious at what could be hidden in there all these years... And now she was going to find out!

Like a giddy kid in a candy store, she loved the fact that this mystery was going to be solved. Even though she never really gave it much thought before now. But that just added to the excitement! Got to occasionally love a mystery that is solved almost as soon as it appears. No wait time needed!

With the key in the door, it took a bit of fiddling about the old lock in order to get the door open. Pulling it wide, Fred leaned in the door, only to do something inside before getting out of the way. Letting Daphne have full access to it... Too late to turn back now.

Carefully, (and looking over at Fred to earn a nod of acceptance) did Daphne finally move to the threshold of the mystery before her. Placing a hand at either side of the door molding, she leaned on it in order to peek her head inside. What greeted her, was the hum of some type of electronics and several shelves of glowing displays on one side of the closet. But she would have to move in further to get a really good look at them.

"Oh get in already!" Snorted Velma as she snuck up behind Daphne to place a socked foot upon her friend derriere and push her lightly inside. Causing the woman to stumbled into the closet and having to skip a bit before she regained her footing. Earning a semi-threatening fist wave in Velma's direction.

"Hey!" Daphne shook a hand at the impatience that Velma was showing, but she wasn't able to get anything more to her retort when her eyes finally saw what sat inside of the shelves.

Rows and rows of small sculptures sat in organized rows that each had a little name plate with a name, date and location. And each and every one of them was familiar to her, just not on that small of a scale. It was a gallery of miniature monsters, aliens and freaks that they had caught over the years, preserved in clay form for her eyes to now see. With Velma and Shaggy's help, Fred had managed to redo the whole set up and organize it from top to bottom, in order of capture. So thankfully his older works were hiding in the upper shelves while his more current (and nicer) ones were sitting on the lower levels. So Fred didn't have to be as embarrassed, since she was seeing a lot of his more recent and better works.

"…Wow." Was all that Daphne could get out.

"Wow is right. Daphne's speechless. Heh, Fancy that." Velma quipped from the door frame, dodging a swat from the older woman.

"Har har. Well, that does it for me." Daphne said, dusting herself off a bit from the slightly up swept closet. For his room being immaculate, his walk-in could use a bit of work. Moving past Velma and Fred by the door she moved back into his main room a bit before settling on his beds edge and shoot him a level gaze.

"Fred, you're making my Joanne." Pausing on a few second to let it sink in. "…What can I do to help?"


End file.
